For slicing such food articles as pickles and carrots along a longitudianl axis, there are provided slicers such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,498, Rotary Slicer for Fruits and Vegetables, issued on Nov. 19, 1974 with Louis Lazzarini as inventor. For the slitting of produce it is necessary to center each article to obtain slivers of substantially equal cross section. One apparatus for centering is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,406, l Centering Device for Feeding Articles to a Food Slicer, issued on Aug. 7, 1979 with Lynn Crawford as inventor. In this apparatus counterdriven belts are positioned around the entry path to the cutter to center and propel the articles along a substantially horizontal path through the cutters. This type of device functions very well with larger articles or with irregularly shaped articles such as cauliflower heads and the like.
It is the purpose of the present invention to provide a centering mechanism primarily for use with small produce such as pickles and carrots, which mechanism is simple in design and efficient in operation.